This is not somewhere to live for all eternity. Everyone is tested with fear and hunger. The whole Islamic world is being tested. There are earthquakes. The Earth’s crust is constantly sprouting volcanoes. The earth is moving. Another volcano has erupted in Iceland, they say. It is Allah Who kills people and Who causes volcanoes to erupt. A volcano does not erupt for no reason. Why should it? It erupts when Allah tells it to. The earth does not move for no reason, either. Allah tells it to "quake", and there is an earthquake. Then He tells it to "stop", and it stops. It is all ordained which house it will demolish, who will die there and who will be spared. For example, Almighty Allah says, “do not touch Istanbul.” Allah commands the Earth, "do not touch Istanbul." The Earth is at Allah’s command. Almighty Allah says, “come willingly or unwillingly.” And they say, “we have obeyed and come willingly.” The Earth is at Allah’s command. It will not harm what He tells it not to. But it will devastate what He tells it to. There was an earthquake the other day, for example. Allah created in specific places at specific intensities. “You will be this strong” He tells it. If it were to be stronger, all the buildings would collapse. Allah tells it “you must remain at this intensity. At level six.” Another three degrees and everything would be destroyed. Nine of the scale would destroy everything, may Allah forbid. It is a very minor detail for Allah, an easy matter to raise it to nine. But Allah does not do that. He raises it to warning levels and leaves it there.

Who does one go to when one is ill? To a doctor. The Turkish nation is a spiritual doctor. It is virtuous, brave, heroic and willing to suffer. It likes to manage. It likes to lead. It is affectionate and likes to behave justly. It likes humility and modesty. It is submissive, not proud and stubborn. It likes to do good and give gifts. It is hospitable. Let us unite you, it says. What is wrong with that? The Turkish nation does not say that out of any sense of genetic or racial superiority. This is a moral superiority. If others did it, we would follow them. But since it is the Turkish nation doing it, that is the nation we follow. Our Prophet (saas) says, “The Turkish nation will do it.” “The Mahdi (as) will appear from Istanbul,” he says. He explicitly refers to the Turkish nation in the hadiths; “the widely dispersed Turkish flags that will assist my son in vast lands, the Mahdi (as).” Our Prophet (saas) says it is the Turkish nation that will do it.

How wonderful that Almighty Allah exists. We came into being out of nothing. Absolute non-existence is impossible, there has to be the existence of Allah. Absolute non-existence is not possible. Apart from in people’s imaginings. Allah exists absolutely. There is no other way, no question. The moment a person says he exists, that presupposes the eternal existence of Allah. Allah has of course existed for all time. I am speaking in terms of individual belief. There can be no going back. Images and sounds never cease to exist. And this makes human beings eternal. It makes eternal life inevitable. For example, these words of mine will never disappear for all time. That is technically impossible. They will remain for ever, in this form. In the same way that our childhoods and every word we speak remain. Nothing changes. Our pasts are also the future. If Allah built such a system it could run the other way. We speak of the future, but it is actually our past. We call the past, the future. Our childhoods are over with, and so is the future. Allah is Omniscient, alhamdulillah, and that is a wonderful thing. But Allah does not want to be alone, He wants there to be human beings. Allah does not regard the angels as enough. He wants human beings. He loves human beings most. And among human beings, He loves the prophets and guides the most. Allah also enjoys the defeat of satan. He likes that very much, satan’s defeat. He created human beings as a delight, and that is a great thing. A great blessing. We must look for beauty everywhere.